Summary: Jesus calls us to reflect on the the depth of our connection with Him by getting us to assess the choices we are making regarding the road we walk, the fruit we produce and the house we build.

You are standing before the Judge - “Why should you be allowed to enter an eternity of heavenly joy?”

Because I prophesied in your name.

Because I evicted demons and performed miracles.

Because I lead a sing-a-long at the retirement village.

Because I was generous in my tithing.

Because I visited the homeless.

There is a moment of silence before the verdict.

… …

I don’t know you. Away from me you evildoer!.

What!? How can the Judge just dismiss the case like that?

These are good acts and actions.

What could be more spiritual than removing demons and performing miracles … in the name of Jesus.

Not everyone who says to me Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven

That is a hard saying isn’t it.

But we need to hear it. Because the reality is that there are too many people under the illusion that they are Christians - when in fact they are not.

How many times have we met a person - someone who has been coming to church for 10, 20, 50 years. But their confession is, “I have only really understood what it means to be a Christian for the last few years”.

I know of pastors … people who have been preaching for years. Pastors who have baptised others who have come to faith under their ministry. They testify that they really didn’t know who Jesus was in the early part of their ministry.

After all didn’t Judas do all these works - and more.

Yet look what happened to him.

It is a hard saying - and one that is going to cause shock waves, especially on judgement day. So let’s have a closer look so we can understand. And like all the hard sayings we need to keep in mind the context.

Throughout this section there are a whole heap of “twos” going on here.

And Jesus uses these “twos” to show us what this hard saying is all about.

Two Gates and Paths

There is no such thing as a road that goes no-where.

Nor is it possible to go on a journey without reaching some sort of destination.

Imagine you’re a parent and you say to your kids, “We are going to Dreamworld”. They get all excited and talk about it for weeks. On the day everyone is up early and you make your way down there and arrive at 10:00am. And you’re sitting in the car in the carpark and you say to your kids, “Ok, we have been to Dreamworld now we are going home”.

What sort of parent would you be? (Actually it would be kind of funny – wouldn’t it).

But the point of driving to Dreamworld ... the point of the journey ... is to get out of the car, go and enjoy the rides, eat too much food, and watch all the shows.

Every journey has a destination – and you go to that destination for a purpose.

Jesus is making the same point.

There is a wide gate

Wide gates are inviting and easy to get through. With wide gate you don’t need to offload any baggage and you can bring a whole heap of stuff through them. The wide gate can accommodate all, without anyone having to make any real sacrifices.

You don’t have to change. You can do live your way.

You can make the rules. It has no restrictions.

The wide gate tolerates many and is very, very attractive.

Especially because beyond the wide gate there is a broad road. There is room for everyone on the broad road; and there are no boundaries. So going down this road is fun and everyone is on it and they all seem to be having a great time. Since it is the popular road we can do all sorts of crazy things because everyone else is doing it as well. It is the easy road.

In contrast you have the narrow gate and the narrow road. Going down this path takes much more effort.

In Germany you can visit the Woolve Run Spring Cave. The cave entrance is a narrow opening, mostly under water so you need diving equipment for the first 1,000m. However, once you get past the entrance the cave goes on for a total of 6,497m. In this section there called Wubadrom which is one of the biggest cave chambers in the world.

If you want to get into this cave it is going to take a lot of effort, planning, as well as a willingness to become fit. You’re going to have to deny yourself many things.